DESCRIPTION:
John Wright was born in 1934 in Louisville, Ky., to a father who worked as a laborer and a mother who served as a missionary. A child of Chicago’s fertile South Side jazz scene, were his family moved when he was a kid. He played “soul” piano, not because it was fashionable, but because it was part of his DNA. As a young man serving in the Army's Special Services in Europe, Wright came into contact with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Dexter Gordon.


Wright - a pianist, organist and bassist - is known commercially as "South Side Soul." Some of his recordings include "South Side Soul - John Wright Trio"; "John Wright: Mr. Soul," and "John Wright: The Last Amen." He has recorded at Prestige, Fantus and Catz studios.

Wright is retired from the Cook County Sheriff's Department of Corrections. He is also executive director of the Hyde Park Jazz Society. He annually hosts an end-of-summer mini-festival at his Matteson home, where some of the best jazz musicians in Chicagoland gather to perform. Wright has nine children, 29 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren. He is a member of Chicago's Apostolic House of God.

Known for its artistic creativity, the Chicago Jazz Festival is a favorite Labor Day Weekend tradition. It promotes awareness and appreciation for all forms of jazz through free, quality live musical performance. Since 1979, the festival's mission is to showcase Chicago's vast jazz talent alongside national and international artists to encourage and educate a jazz audience of all ages.